


S. O. S.

by Dairi



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Boating, Diggle to the rescue, Distraction Techniques, F/M, Headaches, Hurt/Comfort, Married Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Protective Oliver, Storms, ghost ship - Freeform, ship wreck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-03 19:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11539113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dairi/pseuds/Dairi
Summary: Felicity wakes up with a pounding head, only to realize she's been chained to a wall and her overprotective hubby is about to come bursting through the door. And, she can't see.Actually, she's about to find out that these things are the least of their concerns.





	1. Stuck On a Ship

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks! Ok, so this is a cute little idea that wouldn't leave me alone. I'd meant it to be a one-shot, but it looks like it'll be at least two chapters. We haven't even got to the part yet that inspired this whole story. 
> 
> However, I haven't written the next chapter yet so it'll probably be at least a week or so. Hopefully less. We'll see. Anywho, please enjoy and if let me know what you think!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow at all, also don't know anything about boats or boating so if something doesn't add up, either overlook it or let me know what I can do to change it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

 

Felicity gradually gained consciousness, slowly coming to realize that the pounding in her head - well, it wasn't only in her head. Also, there was someone shouting somewhere. She could hear a name or two every now and again, but the voices were off in the distance. Strangely, more than recognizing the names that were being called out, she recognized one of the voices doing the shouting.

“Ol’v’r?” she mumbled, turning her head slightly as she tried to bring a hand to her aching head, only to hear an ominous metal clicking and to feel a restraint on her wrist, a strong resistance that wouldn't let her raise her arm all the way. Fear now spiking through the confusion, she looked down to see...blurry, when she’d opened her eyes it was only to see blurry shapes of varying sizes. So, she didn't have her glasses nor contacts but the dark blob on her wrist did not bode well. A shackle of some sort, probably. 

Only her right hand was restrained, which was also odd. She was lying on the cold hard floor, the chain coming from the wall it seemed, and as far as she could tell the room she was in was small and didn't have much else in it. And why couldn't she have been chained and placed on the cot-shaped object over there in the corner, instead of being dumped on the floor?

There was something else, though...something about this whole room felt _off._ It was not necessarily anything to do with the blurry items in the room, it was more a feeling she got from the room itself that felt off. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly that was, however, not through the pounding in her skull. 

She heard a series of thumps, then footsteps, and then the pounding again - which was doing nothing for her headache, by the way. The noises were getting louder, just as the pain in her head was growing stronger too. At this point she'd call out just to get the noise to stop. More than that, there was that one person whom she was really missing most at this moment. One person who could make her feel better in almost any situation. One man whose voice she was pretty sure she heard calling out her name just now. Her husband.

“Ol’ver!” 

Well, that was a little better than the last time she'd tried to say his name...still a little concerning though, as she had not meant to slur like that. And _ouch,_ note to self, shouting at the top of one’s lungs was not a good idea while sporting a headache the size of Niagara Falls in her skull. If it wasn't a migraine before, it was now. Felicity wondered if her shout had been loud enough to be heard. Judging by the sudden silence, she was very hopeful.

“Felicity!? Sound off again, honey, let us know where you are!”

It was Oliver. He had heard her.

“I'm… I'm here. In a room, I mean. I can't, I uh, don't have my glasses, so I can't see, exactly? But - I'm pretty sure there's a cot in that corner.” she spoke, trying to keep her voice even and raised a little even though it hurt her head.

“Are you hurt?” he called out again, sounding much closer this time. Felicity tilted her head and winced as the pain increased, but she took a moment to take category of the rest of her body to be sure her head was the only thing that hurt. It seemed that way, other than some slight twinges in her wrist and side. Probably from lying like this on the cold, hard floor…

“Felicity!?” Apparently she had taken a little long in responding, because Oliver sounded a little scared there.

“I'm fine!” Felicity rushed to reassure, closing her eyes to try and ease the pressure behind them a little. “Slight headache, but I'm fine.” she added, in a somewhat softer tone. She jumped as there was a sudden, very loud, bang on the door only feet from where she was curled up.

“Felicity! Get as far away from this door as you can, ok?” Came Oliver's voice once more, immediately following the loud bang.

“Uh, slight problem there, my love.” A slight pause, giving Oliver enough time to ask why in a low voice laced with a sense of foreboding. “I'm kind of...chained to the wall here and, can't really move...away.”

Silence. Then,

“Cover your face, turn away as much as possible - I'm coming in!”

That being the only warning, Felicity scrambled to cover what she could as there sounded a _really loud_ bang, followed by the door in front of her falling in. She was deaf and numb for several moments, but then her head was being lifted and she felt the hands framing her face the same moment her blue gaze met that of her husband's. Even blurry, she would know him anywhere. No words, they just stared into each other's eyes for a moment, taking in and assessing the other's well being from there, and then she was being crushed against his chest. She wrapped her good arm around his back, surging up slightly to burrow her face in the crook of his neck.

But wait -- her hand met leather? Felicity leaned back slightly, Oliver reluctant to let her go just yet, but she had to ask…

“Are you wearing your suit?” she asked, scrunching up her nose as she tried to look him in the eye, which was all the easier when they were this close. She didn't see the hood though, so either he had it down or she was wrong. Either way, she felt the sudden urge to clarify what she meant by, ‘suit.’ “I mean, your _suit_ suit, not your...suit. Your night suit, I mean not your day--”

“Yes, I'm in the Green Arrow gear.” 

“Shh!” Oliver was kneeling down before her, so she was able to wrap her free arm under his and over his shoulder to clumsily land her fingers over where his lips were supposed to be. Or the general vicinity, as she felt much more scruff under her fingertips than soft lips. “There might be cameras somewhere, recording...everything. We need to be careful what we say.”

Oliver grabbed her hand with his own, and she felt a quick kiss to her fingertips as he then brought it back down to his side. “I woke up like this, with the hood down. What we say or do now won't make a difference.” After a moment, he added, “Besides, I haven't seen any cameras anyway. I don't think whoever did this is after an identity reveal.”

“Speaking of, where exactly is here?” Felicity questioned, and at that exact moment she caught a movement behind Oliver. She tensed, until she heard the voice.

“Here, Blondie. They were on the cot, but, they look kinda busted.” It was Rene, and he was pressing something small and plastic into her hand. Her glasses!

Felicity eagerly accepted them and put them on, then blinked. Busted was right. The left lens had a web-like cracking spanning more than half the surface, and the right had a deep scratch right in the center. Wonderful. She might just be better off without them, at this point.

Oliver and Rene went on to explain how they had been awake only a few hours themselves, each woke in a separate room but able to escape, then how they had found Curtis from his yelling in another room a floor down. How they seemed to be the only ones here, and how they had run into no guards as of yet. That wasn't the kicker, though.

“We're on a _boat_!?”

Well. That would explain the weird feeling this room was giving her earlier; she could tell now, that weird feeling was actually the rocking sensation of the ship. She hadn't been able to realize that until just now. Stupid headache…

“Yeah. An abandoned civilian cruise liner, if I had to guess.” Oliver informed her, frowning. The scrunch line between his brows did not bode well, for she could see there was something else. Felicity rose her brows, silently telling Oliver to get on with it. Oliver pursed his lips, Rene in the background urging him to tell her ‘the best part,’ and after another moment's hesitation, he spoke.

“The ship is on an automatic heading. It's essentially on cruise control with an unknown but set destination. We can't turn it off.”

“That's not good.” A destination likely set by the bad guys, and they were speeding right for it. Yeah, not good. 

“So, let me get this straight.” Felicity was summarizing as Oliver got out a small lockpick kit from somewhere within his suit that she'd ask about later, “We're on a ghost cruise ship, heading full speed to sights unknown but most likely really bad, presumably in the middle of the ocean and with no help in sight?”

“Pretty much.” Oliver muttered as he set to work getting the shackle thing off her wrist. “We have Curtis working on it now, but I knew you would be here somewhere, so I had to find you first.”

“You knew?” Felicity questioned, turning to give her husband a ‘you-must-explain-that-right-now’ look. Oliver sighed.

“The base was compromised. I was suiting up to hit the streets when I smelled the gas. I ran into the main room to warn you all, but by that time it was too late.” Oliver explained, a haunted look on his face. “You were passed out in your chair, Curtis next to you.” A pause, as his gaze flicked over to Rene. “Rene was on the training mats...he'd been sparing with Dinah. We haven't found her, yet.” Returning attention to the lock in earnest, Oliver concluded with, “I'll take you up to Curtis, then Rene and I will continue sweeping the ship.” 

A few moments later, and her wrist was free. Absentmindedly rubbing it as she watched Oliver put his lockpick kit away, then reach out to help her stand, she had concerns other than her wrist on her mind. Like the fact that her husband, who didn't particularly enjoy seafaring ventures anymore, was once again on a boat...once again, in unfavorable circumstances. 

“Are you alright?” She questioned, grabbing onto Oliver's upper arm as they reached the door to the small room. He stopped and cocked his head, brows furrowing for a moment in confusion. Then relaxed as he realized the source of her concern, a small smile forming on his lips as a warm look of love settled into his gaze. 

A few years ago, he would've said, ‘I'm fine,’ and left it at that. But they had agreed some time ago, no more lies between them, not even little ones. So he took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I'm better now.” He whispered, giving her a little peck as Rene muttered something in the background. Drawing his wife out into the hallway, Oliver instructed Rene to continue their search on this floor while he was gone. He'd come right back after delivering Felicity safely to the control room.

Felicity was kind of glad Oliver still had a hold of her hand as he tugged her through the maze of hallways and staircases - inwardly shuddering at the realization of just how far down into the bowels of the ship she had actually been - and not just for the fact that she couldn't see all that well through her cracked and scratched lenses, but also for the silent support he was so good at giving. She was kind of terrified in this moment, as they had no earthly clue what was going on here, and she knew he must be too. But he didn't show it, just kept going on to the next thing like it was business as usual. He was able to keep calm in these crazy situations, and that helped her keep calm, too. She loved him all the more for it.

At the top of the last staircase there was a door, and then suddenly a very bright light attacked her aching eyes. She couldn't contain the wince nor stop the hand that immediately lifted to cover her already closed lids. 

Sunlight. Sunlight did not help her already raging headache.

“Felicity?” 

She only now realized that they had stopped, and Oliver's gentle hold of her had moved from her hand to her jaw. 

“Felicity, what's wrong?” He asked, and that ugly fear that laced his tone forced her to crack an eye open. He was standing so close and looking so worried that she had to release a sigh, then lifted her hands to his wrists...partially for balance, as the boat was rocking a little more noticeably out here. Or maybe it was just seeing the water from her peripheral, now. Either way, Oliver was looking way too worried and she had to put his mind at ease.

“It's not that bad, really. Just a headache. I mean, the headache is really not good, but it's not...it's not too bad. Not life threatening, or anything. Promise.” She tried to assure him, smiling just a little.

“Do you remember hitting your head at all?” He questioned, putting one hand on her shoulder, her hand following as it was still attached to his wrist, and his other hand taking her chin and turning her face to one side then the other. Then he stared into her eyes, probably looking at her pupils.

“I'm fine, Oliver, really. It's alright.” She would have given her head a shake then to emphasize her statement, if she wasn't about 100% sure that would've been a bad idea and make it hurt even worse. Oliver must have seen something in her gaze, because his frown never wavered in the slightest. His lips parted as he went to say something, something no doubt about her safety or well-being, but these were things they really didn't have time for. She needed to get up there and help Curtis shift that autopilot. So, she did the one thing that she knew would distract him. She surged forward and up, and caught his lips with her own.

It worked for a moment. He held still, his hands hovering in the air by her head as her movements had temporarily broken his hold, but then...her plan kinda backfired. Just as she was about to pull away and redirect their conversation, he deepened the kiss and started threading his fingers through her hair. The feeling of his lips moving against hers was so glorious that she almost did not catch what he was doing. 

Then she realized his hands, his fingers were moving against the back of her skull in a much more organized and thorough way than they usually did. He was checking for bumps. He had taken her distraction and had actually amped it up, now using it for his own means. Means she wasn't sure she was OK with. Though the kissing was pretty good… Half-heartedly, she tried to pull back. Unsurprisingly, he wouldn't let her; keeping his hold gentle but firm and not letting her lean away at all. 

And then his wandering hands did indeed find a small bump on the back of her head. A small, painful bump. It made her wince, because ou-- oh.

Oliver had felt her wince, and immediately bit down on her lower lip, giving her a nice little nip that had slightly more pressure behind it than normal, followed by his tongue running across the exact area he'd bit, easing the sting. His distraction had made her forget all about the pain of his fingers on the bump. She really liked his distraction techniques, actually. Ten out of ten. And she was really unashamed of the fact that she felt herself practically melting, because this was her husband and he totally would not mind her melting into him. Like right now, when she was pretty much being held up by his hands and elbows. She was completely focused on Oliver and all that he was, surrounding her like this, utterly unaware of anything else going on around them.

At length, he must have been satisfied with the results because his fingers stopped moving and he started to pull back. She couldn't help it as she followed, giving his bottom lip a playful nip in retaliation. Oliver made a noise that could've passed for a breathy chuckle of some sort, then pressed forward into the kiss for another moment, before regretfully pulling back all the way. They gave each other another couple of pecks, then finally just stood there for a moment with their foreheads pressed together, breathing in the same air. Oliver smiled beautifully as he looked into her eyes, and swiped his thumb across her jaw a couple of times. It was time for them to get moving, she knew, but she really didn't want this moment to end.

“I'll be back after we find Dinah.” Apparently Oliver didn't want the moment to end either, because he spoke so softly she might not have heard him had they not been pressed together like this. She nodded, and then after one last peck, he turned and walked away.

Wait, what? She almost called out to him because she didn't know where the control room was! That's when she heard a breathy, _“Relationship goals.”_ said in a very familiar voice, coming from her right, somewhere very close. She turned to look, and sure enough, there sat a wide-eyed Curtis. Seated in the control room. Which was what she now stood in front of. With a start, Felicity realized that Oliver must have been walking them - walking her, backwards - the whole time that they had been kissing. She had been so distracted that she hadn't even realized that they had been moving. With a little laugh, her face afire with blush she was sure, she walked into the room to see what Curtis had for her.

She'd get her husband back later. The sneaky little devil.


	2. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other shoe drops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no words. Just, I'm sorry this has taken so long. I'm not very satisfied with how this turned out, and I just got it out, haven't gone over it much so my apologies for any mistakes. It took so long, once it was done I just wanted it to be out and over with ha. Sorry if it is a little rushed, I hope it is at least a somewhat enjoyable read. 
> 
> The scene that inspired this whole thing, is when he takes her to the little interior room...basically, for a situation that comes up where she has a monster of all killer headaches, and can't take anything for it, so Oliver just tries to help out in whatever little ways he can.
> 
> Thank you for your time, and please enjoy!

Her headache had only gotten worse as the day progressed, unfortunately. However, her brain was the one thing she could count on, even when a big part of her wished it could be severed from her spine at the moment - and that _might_ kill the pain, at least for a little while.

“Felicity?”

She was working on coding right now, and coding was what she did best. She could do it in her sleep, so she could certainly do it with a lil’ ole headache. Even if she could barely see with her glasses cracked the way they were, forcing her to tilt her head every now and again - which, well, didn't help the headache.

“Uh, hey, Felicity?”

Granted, she was now (only now, really, was she finally admitting this to herself) really coming to terms with the fact that this was not a normal headache. No, it was a full-fledged migraine, and one of the worst she had probably ever had. Like, _ever._

“Earth to Mrs. Queen.”

But, she was not going to let her distractingly achy head nor her annoyingly broken spectacles lure her aside from finishing her goal, which was overpowering the commands programmed into the computer controlling the guidance systems. ...or whatever, but she knew what she was doing! If only she could get this line of code to cooperate…

“FELICITY MEGHAN SMOAK QUEEN!”

“ _What?_ Oh my gosh, Curtis, there is no need to shout.” Felicity grumbled, finally looking up from her computer to glare at her workmate and friend. She winced, the simple head adjustment had her feeling as if she were going to be sick.

“Well apparently, there is. I called your name, like, three times. You wouldn't even respond to _Mrs. Queen._ ” 

Felicity winced for a whole ‘nother reason at that information, a part of her somehow glad her husband hadn't been there to hear it. Subtly, she tried to look around to be sure - no, he wasn't here, but apparently Dinah was. She wondered when that had happened.

“Felicity, are you feeling alright?” Curtis asked, hovering over her with an anxious look. Felicity squinted at him.

“I'm fine,” she said, turning back to her screen but taking a moment to close her eyes as her head and body got readjusted to the position once more. “And if I could only get this one string of code working, I believe we're in business.”

“The string of code you've been working on for the past several hours? Uh...Felicity, have you...have you really looked at that code - all of it, I mean?” 

Felicity snapped her eyes open but stayed staring at the screen, and as Curtis’ words washed over her, she slowly narrowed her eyes again but refused to look up at him now for fear she might actually throw up this time. He could not be insinuating what she thought he might.

“Of _course._ I'd have to look at it while carrying it out, now wouldn't I? What are you…” Felicity trailed off as she stared at the screen, her eyes growing wider as she took in number after number. And...and occasionally…

“I didn’t write that.” She immediately defended, glancing up at Curtis without moving her head. “That-that wasn't me. I know what I typed, and it wasn't that! There's...there must be an input problem…” her fingers twitched as her eyes came to rest on the screen before her again. And the Utter Nonsense that covered the screen, that had replaced the string of code she had been building. Because, there was no way - that was simply not what she had been doing.

The pain that lanced through her skull combined with the look of pity that Curtis was giving her, finally broke her down. Flinging off her glasses to land somewhere on the counter because they were broken anyway and she didn't care where they landed, Felicity groaned and lay her head in her hands. A small commotion went on behind her, but at that moment, she really couldn't care less.

\---

Oliver had been on a lower deck, pondering what to do with the meager supplies they'd been able to find so far - a total sum of three water bottles, which may or may not have actual water in them (considering who must have put them there, he wasn't about to trust the seemingly unbroken seal) - when Dinah appeared and informed him that his wife needed him. He only paused long enough to grab one of the mystery bottles before he raced up the stairs, two at a time, and raced to Felicity’s side.

She was presently seated in a chair, but doubled over, with her head in her hands. Her headache must have gotten worse, Oliver thought with a frown. Cautiously, he approached and knelt before her, reaching out a hand to rest on her arm when she didn't acknowledge his presence. She finally dropped her hands, raising her head slightly to meet his eyes. His heart clenched at the look in her eyes - pain and defeat.

“Put me out of my misery, please. I can't...I can't even code.” she whispered, spitting the word out as if it were a curse. 

“Oh, honey.” Oliver raised himself up enough to wrap her in a hug. He knew she had to be seriously ill, to admit to not even being able to work her computers properly. No wonder she looked so defeated. He was genuinely worried for her health now, more so because...they had nothing. Absolutely nothing in the way of medical assistance. All he could offer her was himself, and a bottle of water. It would have to be enough. When he felt Felicity slump against him, he stood up and took her with him, cradling her carefully in his arms.

“I'm gonna take her below for a few hours of rest. If it's life or death important, then come in quietly.” Oliver told Curtis, and after receiving a nod of confirmation, headed for a lower deck with his wife in his arms. 

Due to the fact that she was currently attempting to burrow her face into his neck, he was assuming (correctly) that light was not a good thing for her right now, so made his way to one of the small interior rooms (meaning no windows) and softly shut the door behind him. Walking the length of the wall in the complete dark, he settled himself into a corner and gently eased Felicity to a sitting position on his lap, but still leaning against his chest. He still had that water bottle in hand, and so, cracking off the lid, he took an experimental sip. Waited a few moments, but there was no weird taste, no sinister reactions. Gently turning Felicity in his arms, he put his thumb to her lips and then guided the lip of the bottle to her lips.

“Hey, we managed to find a few bottles of water. I'd like you to take a drink, if you think you can. I already did.” Oliver informed her in a soft voice, supporting her upper half as he urged her to drink. She made a whining sound, but he didn't budge at all, and so soon enough her hands were coming up to blindly fumble with the bottle. She took one sip, then another, and then let him reclaim control of the bottle as she turned into his chest again. Capping the bottle and then sitting it beside him, he allowed his wife to shift around for a good few minutes until she seemingly found a comfortable spot. Which consisted of her tucked up against him in the fetal position with her face, mainly her eyes, pressed into the crook of his right elbow. He began massaging her scalp with his left, and blessedly, it only took a few minutes before her breathing evened out and he was pretty sure she actually fell asleep.

. . . 

A low grumbling noise roused him to wakefulness; Oliver opened his eyes to find...more darkness. The weight in his arms thankfully reminded him right away of the why and where he was. But that noise...there it was again! And was it just him...or did the boat seem to be swaying more than it had been earlier? Everything in him itched to find out what was going on, but that would mean moving, which would mean waking Felicity. And if she was still asleep and hence, in much less pain, he really wasn't willing to get up just yet.

Just then, the decision (thankfully or not) was taken away from him when the door opened. Felicity gave a start at the noise, but other than a moan and the tightening of her arm around his middle, she made no move. Oliver raised his head to meet the apologetic stare of Rene. 

“Uh, Boss? We've got a...small problem.”

“Snakes!” 

Both Oliver and Rene startled at the sudden shout from the woman curled around Oliver's middle. She slowly raised up, using his arm and hip as anchoring points to push from. 

“I mean, not...not real ones. They're creepy. And scary - very, very scary...just, they slither, and can slip around…” blinking up at her husband's confused expression, she allowed herself to trail off, before giving an indignant sniff, then adding with a wave of her hand, “I figured out a way to reroute the ship's computer, was all I was trying to say. There. Somewhere.” she frowned and blinked again, her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way, “Were you always that blurry?”

Unable to resist the grin taking over his face, Oliver leaned forward and kissed her nose. Only after that did he return attention to Rene, asking him to go on as he fetched the water bottle from beside him and made Felicity take another few sips as they listened to what Rene had to say. 

It must have been coincidence, but like it or not, they were on a crash course with a very powerful storm. Unless Felicity could regain control of the ship, like now.

Which...she then refused to move until she witnessed her husband take two healthy sips from that water bottle, too. Only then did she allow him to pick her up again and transport her to the control room, because...efficiency. Yeah, that was it. Her head was feeling just a little bit better from the rest she'd received, but really, it would have taken her a lot longer under her own power. Time they did not have at the moment. Oliver being Oliver, even tried to shield her from the bits of rain and ocean spray that they were already getting.

Dinah had disappeared again without telling anyone (or possibly, Curtis just wasn't listening) so after depositing Felicity into her previous chair, Oliver and Rene took off to find her again. They needed all hands on deck for this one. Now that they actually had a plan and knew what they were doing, it didn't take long for Curtis and Felicity to get into the boats systems. 

And right then is when they discovered...a much bigger problem. 

“Oh crap! Curtis, go get them! You've got to warn them to hold on - _right now!_ ” 

Curtis had made it to the door and poked out his head, starting to yell over the rain and wind, when it happened. They hit the underwater boulder that had only been detectable once the ship's systems were back online. That must have been what they were on course to hit, the storm was just an unhappy coincidence. 

Had Oliver or Rene mentioned anything about life jackets in the findings? She couldn't remember, and she was definitely not the best swimmer ever. Another thought occurred to her, and it alone made her lurch to her unsteady feat. The impact with the boulder had jarred the ship pretty hard, which her entire body had been displeased with but especially her head, but there were more important issues. Like for one, making sure no one had fallen off yet, but more importantly…

Her husband was on board a ship, in a storm, that had just had a huge hole ripped in its side. Again. 

She needed to find him.

Felicity now stood at the door, attached to Curtis’ arm because apparently the ship was behaving a little better for him than it was for her. The stairs, however, proved a formidable adversary for the both of them. The wind and rain picked up as the minutes ticked by, not helping matters at all. Her worry level also ratcheted up every moment that she could not see or hear her husband. Sure, her whole world was extremely blurry right now, but she would still have known him, she was sure.

The clouds were so thick it was almost dark as night, making it even more difficult for her to make out shapes, but she still thought she saw something slumped against the wall not far from the base of the stairs. Her suspicions were confirmed when Curtis parked her near the shape, then spoke.

“He seems to be freaking out - you should help him, while I go...try and find anything that floats!” Curtis called out above the noise of the storm, then turned and disappeared into the darkness. Sucking in a deep breath, Felicity turned towards the slumped figure and reached out until her fingers clasped his arm. The flesh beneath her fingers proved to be ice cold, not a good thing. She followed the arm up to the cap of the leather sleeve, then over to his neck, where she followed with her body so she would be face-to-...well, chest with him. Still, she reached up and grabbed his jaw, tilting his head downwards.

“Hey, look at me. Oliver! You're not there, you hear me? You. Are. Not. There. You're _here,_ today, with me. It may not...prove to be any kind of a better situation, but snap out of it please! We need you here.” she gave his jaw a little squeeze, then added more quietly, “ _I_ need you here. Please...please come back to me, my love.” and then she lifted up on her tippy toes and kissed him. Blind as she was, she actually missed his lips, but it was close enough.

It worked - she felt his hands come up to rest on her hips, and he quickly righted the kiss by only moving his head so that their lips were actually connected for a moment. Then he drew her closer and wrapped his arms around her in a bone-crushing, I-can't-breathe type of way, his lips leaving hers only to press into her forehead as he whispered, 

“Thank you.”

And then, well, he had to prevent them both from taking a headlong tumble as the ship started to list dangerously to one side. Suddenly caught between the stair railing and her husband, Felicity began to recognize another sound over that of the wind and rain. Two sounds, actually…

A helicopter, and someone yelling their names.

Felicity had never been so happy to hear John Diggle's voice in her entire life. She'd later learn that Rene had been the first to spot the bird, him and Dinah being the first to board. Curtis had waited until he was sure Oliver and Felicity had seen them, then he gulped and grabbed onto the ladder hanging from the open bay. Once he was safely away, Oliver guided Felicity to the spot, but she refused to go up without him. She believed she heard Diggle yelling something about how now really wasn't the time, but she ignored him. 

“Oliver,” she calmly reasoned with her hubby, “I can't see the ladder! If I jump and miss it…” Mainly, she didn't want to go without him for fear he'd make some self-sacrificing play, but she did have a very valid point. Even though blind, she could tell Oliver's scowl from 100 yards in the dark, so she didn't need to see to know he was unhappy about this. But then, he turned and his back hit her front. He knelt and was grabbing her arms to thread them around his neck as he ordered her to hold onto him.

Not having much of a choice, she brought her inner monkey out and locked her arms and legs around her husband's torso. She closed her eyes and cringed, resting her forehead to his shoulder. He had her full faith and trust, yet it was still terribly frightening, that moment of weightlessness when he jumped from the deck of the ship and straight into the unknown. Only for a few seconds, because then there was tension in his arms again, as he caught onto the ladder and quickly began to scale it. Soon enough, she was being wrapped in a warm, dry blanket, but it was still too long before she was being wrapped in the arms of her husband again - which was exactly where she wanted to be. She even offered to share her blanket, which made him chuckle, but he wouldn't move at all until the helicopter safely cleared the storm. 

She began to drift off as she heard him give a quiet, yet very sincere, thank you to Digg. Then she felt her blanket cocoon move slightly and felt cool lips on her forehead, before blissful darkness consumed her.


End file.
